Diary of an aviation nut: Waltzing Matilda

Burke & Wills Roadhouse airstrip

Today I introduced Bruce and Rob to the vast nothingness that is the outback of northern Queensland.

Leaving Burketown we turned south for a short flight of 1.1 hous to to the Burke & Wills Roadhouse. The Roadhouse is on the junction of the Burke Developmental Rd and Matilda Highway both of which are major routes across this isolated land. Behind the roadhouse is a large dirt airstrip which we used today. The airstrip is pretty basic and the windsock has long since been blown away.

The Burke & Wills Roadhouse is typical of the roadhouses you find in these parts. It offers fuel, a caravan park, a restaurant, simple shop and basic mechanical repairs. As we sat and had an early lunch, we watched many dusty "grey nomads" with their 4 x 4's and caravans stop for a well deserved break at this oasis in the middle of nowhere.

Our flight from the Burke & Wills Roadhouse to Winton was a bit hot and bumpy. We started off at an altitude of 3500' but then climbed to 5500'. Air cools at 3deg/1000' so is ~15 deg cooler than on the ground. We were comfortable in the cooler air but the ride was only marginally better.

I love flying in the outback. The magnificent emptiness of the place fascinates me. Flying over land that's billiard table flat as far as the eye can see is so different from the country I fly over at home. In parts of the Australian outback, like the Simpson and Stryzelecki Deserts, there's no trace of humanity. However, on the leg to Winton we passed over stick tracks and remote stations miles from anywhere. How they farm in such an inhospitable land is difficult to imagine.

Our route took us over the Combo Waterhole which I circled over for Bruce and Rob. Combo Waterhole is believed to be the setting for the story of Waltzing Matilda or to have inspired the famous Australian bush ballad. Banjo Paterson, the composer of Waltzing Matilda, is known to have visited the site in 1895. The song was first publicly played in October 1896 at Winton's North Gregory Hotel which still stands today.

Arriving at Winton we nearly became stranded. Although Bruce, Rob and I all had cellphones using different carriers, none of us had coverage. Winton airport is a long way out of town and we had no way of contacting the motel we were staying at to have them come and collect us as we'd arranged when booking. The airport looked abandoned on a Sunday afternoon but fortunately we found a guy pottering around with his helicopter who took pity on us and called the motel. Note to self - when travelling in the outback buy a Telstra Sim card!

After a lazy afternoon hour or two at the motel and catching up on some washing, we wandered into town (which was surprisingly busy) for another pub meal and more chips.

Leg Summary
Burketown (YBKT) - Burke & Wills Roadhouse
Distance: 100nm (185km)
Time: 1.1hrs
Alt: 3,500ft

Burke & Wills Roadhouse - Winton (YKMB)
Distance: 244nm (452km)
Time: 2.3hrs
Alt: 3,500ft - 5,500ft